Do-it-yourself healthcare is closer than you think

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AUSTIN–Healthcare-related innovation was everywhere at South by Southwest Interactive this year. There were sessions on healthcare IT, big data, wearables, and innovative startups that are using technology to upend the status quo. For example, Tim O’Reilly gave a talk about adapting the same experience-focused approach used by companies such as Apple, Google, and Uber to reimagine health care delivery.

And if there is any industry ripe for disruption, it is healthcare. According to federal government statistics, healthcare expenditures in the U.S now exceed $3 trillion and represent 17% of the nation’s GDP. Yet despite consisting of such a huge slice of the economy, and incorporating large amounts of new technology for diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the past 30 years, the industry has failed at delivering cost-effective care. Compare that with the computing industry, where the million-dollar supercomputer of 20 years ago now fits in your pocket and costs $600 unsubsidized. Thanks to smartphones, cloud computing, sensors, and other technology, today’s health tech entrepreneurs see plenty of opportunities.

One such startup is Audicus. Audicus is aiming to upend the current model and cost structure for obtaining hearing aids. If you’re old enough to think you need a hearing aid, the drill is something like this: Your doctor refers you to an audiologist’s office. The audiologists give you some tests with specialized equipment. They get some detailed data on your hearing loss, and recommend whether you need a hearing aid (or two) and what the options are and their costs. Typically, hearing aids run $2,000 to $3,000 per ear for good-quality smaller ones. Also, most insurance plans don’t cover them, so this is an out-of-pocket expenditure for most patients.

Instead, Audicus is using the Internet to enable a simpler process, with better price transparency, to hearing aid patients. While not eliminating a professional audiologist test, it is using the Internet at what it does best – use technology to present information about a product, enable transparency by clearly spelling out costs, and providing easily accessible post-sale support.

This is not a futuristic technology solution per se, but it does provide an avenue for more innovation. Given the right set of headphones, software, and smartphone based application, why can’t that audio test be administered over the Internet by an audiologist at much lower cost? With new Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids already available, why couldn’t the adjusting and tweaking of the hearing aid be done over the Internet as well? We likely have all the base technology to do this in today’s platforms. What’s required is a rethinking of the model to effectively use it. Audicus looks to be able to do these types of innovations in the future.

Along the lines of hearing, Tinnitracks is using music therapy to treat chronic Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. According to recent neuroscientific findings, Tinnitus can be mitigated by “tuning” your hearing with filtered music. Tinnitracks is a Web application that analyzes your own music that you listen to. It then analyzes it for your tinnitus frequency (which an audiologist or ENT specialist can determine) and filters the music that will help tune your ears so as not to trigger the ringing (pictured, right). As Tinnitus is not an easily treatable problem, if this really brings relief to sufferers, it will be a great use of technology for do-it-yourself therapy.

Another interesting company launching soon is Opternative. It is gearing up deliver $30 refractive eye exams over the Internet, using your computer and a Web-enabled phone. Using the same principles as an in an office exam, it will deliver a legal prescription signed by an optometrist that reviews the results of the test. And you can’t even cheat by memorizing the eye chart, as they randomize it.

First Derm is an interesting telemedicine application. Using an IOS or Android app, a user can take a picture of a skin condition or other issue you might otherwise need to book an appointment with a dermatologist for. You take two pictures of the affected area, and provide some basic information, but the initial case request is anonymous. For a $40 fee, a licensed dermatologist reviews the case and responds to you in 24 hours. First Derm says that in 70% of cases, the issue can be treated with an over-the-counter medication. Currently they are limited in that they cannot write prescriptions. In those cases, they will refer you to a local dermatologist. Given the high cost of seeing a specialist, and that specialist co-pay amounts for many insurance plans are now $50 or even more, this is a good use of technology for convenient treatment of non-serious dermatology issues.

So many other startups and more established companies are taking disruptive approaches to solving problems in health care. In many of these cases, the technology platforms we need to build better solutions to health issues are already here. What we need is deep thinking about what really needs to be accomplished, a customer-centric approach (not doctor- or institution-centric), and clever use of technology to change the current models and inefficient cost structures of health service delivery.

I am really surprised that with the prevalence of smart devices that are connected to the internet, now-a-days, that there are not more apps and devices out there that improve your health, I have seen some things that seem more like simple gimmicks that I am not at all too impressed by.

I would personally like a nutritionist app that could access a massive catalogue of food products whose barcode or logo I could scan to notify the app that I had just eaten or that I am about to eat, that way I would be able to keep track of all the nutrients that my body is receiving, it would also be nice if the app could make suggestions for products that I am missing in my diet at stores near me and the exact amount of that product that was still in stock at that specific store, that would be one hell of a useful app(!)

I could argue with store staff and tell them “no my device tells me that you guys still have 3 tubs of Ben and Jerry’s in stock, where is the hidden ice cream?!”.

I work over internet, working some simple jobs which only require a computer and internet access and I couldn’t be happier… 6 months have passed since i started this and i had profit in total 36 thousand dollars… Basicly i get paid close to 80 bucks/hourly and work for 3-4 hours daily.And great thing about this is that you can manage time when you work and for how long as you like and the payments are weekly. -> See More Here <-

ElaineSaunders26

Check blameysaunderds.com.au for a complete self fit system, with an online test of hearing and unlimited professional support (tele-audiology)

XenoSilvano

I look forward to the day when analysis and diagnosis becomes so good that there will not even be a need for a doctor to review the results, kind of what they are trying to do with Watson.

J. Andrew Lanz-O’Brien

90 percent of the diagnosis is made by taking a careful history, including past illness and what a patient has been exposed to. Some things are very hard to detect with a test, and coming up with the optimal treatment plan for an individual can be quite complicated depending on personal genetics, comorbidities, and other patient factors. I really hope that tech can get to that point, but we may not see it in our lifetimes.

Ivor O’Connor

90 percent of the time a doctor can’t figure out whether you have strep throat or not. If we could do our own diagnostics we’d be able to remove these clowns that think so highly of themselves they have quit trying.

XenoSilvano

check this out – [ tinyurl. com/ozf4bwz ]

Ivor O’Connor

I’m still waiting for AI systems to allow people to do self diagnosing. Simple flow charts would be a welcome start. Unfortunately the union of doctors have prohibited this using the excuse it would be too dangerous to self diagnose. Too dangerous to their bank accounts.

powerwiz

Why do we need this you can have Obamacare. It solves all, it cures all. The masses cried for it they now have it.

civisisus

Way to stay on topic, Sparky.

Ivor O’Connor

Masses did not cry for it. Insurance lobbyists cried for it. They wanted more customers. They convinced the politicians by saying more people would register and then you can verify they pay taxes.

pixelstuff

Regarding hearing aids and audiologists, I don’t see why it can’t be completely configured by a user in software. There shouldn’t really be any need for an audiologist over the internet to do things. Instead just buy a really good set of hearing aids (which should be doable for $500 or less), pair it with your smart phone, run the hearing test, and have it automatically program them with your results. Any secondary adjustments should be able to be done in software as well.

The only issue might be getting custom ear molds.

XenoSilvano

lol, that is where 3D printing comes in.

civisisus

“the” health care industry is more like 10,000 smaller industries, very loosely related. The “innovations” identified so enthusiastically here are nice, clever, but individually far from transformative. The key transformation is of attitudes among the general public, not the bright shiny pennies who party in Austin – and that transformation is slower, harder, and doesn’t depend at all on which exhibiter booth you checked out at SXSW.

Benjamin Algaze

Well, obviously the post only highlights a very few interesting companies out of the many at SXSW. And there are hundreds or maybe thousands more that are not at SXSW. Of course the healthcare industry is huge and hugely complicated. The attitudes of the people and human behavior in general change slowly over time. But if technology can point out things to people that they may be doing or not doing for the betterment of their health – and there are many innovations In that vein – then we can all be better off in the future. And technology does change behavior, because a world of cars, planes, trains, television, computers, smartphones and the like have radically altered how we live.

openeyes00

I have watched programs from 30 to 40 years ago that talk about technology as we are now, but I do think this time it is different. AI assistants like Watson will make science fiction type changes in just 10 to 20 years.

DKahn

Don’t be surprised if your politicians and their healthcare lobbing buddies decide to pass some “safety” laws to curtail the do it yourself markets.

No real innovation allowed.

XenoSilvano

There have been times where I have wasted money on doctors who were only
interested in making a few bucks at my expense (healthcare is nothing
but a business after all), that is why I would prefer to deal with a
machine that is better then all of the doctors in the world combined
with none of the ego attached.

Natalie Hoorfar

Another health tech company that I found interesting at SXSW was Mobile Therapy. It’s a new technology that empowers mental health clinicians to make more accurate diagnoses and improve treatment by providing insight on what’s happening with clients between therapy sessions. Information is collected from clients via their smartphones using brief surveys designed around the client’s disorder or issue. This information is securely sent to the clinician’s web-based dashboard and presented in simple, easy to read reports. The clinician can review reports in real-time, for a few minutes before the session, or together with the client. Here’s the link to their website if you’re interested in learning more! http://www.MobileTherapy.com

ElaineSaunders26

Blamey Saunders hears already has a complete selfcontainaed, self test and self fit hearing aid system that’s shipped worldwide. See how it works at blameysaunders.com.au

Joe Smith

Audicus is also looking to more stylish and fashion forward hearing aid products as well. You can check them out here: http://bit.ly/1FXzQCp

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